


Treasure Hunt

by stormy1990



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, Johnny's Jr., Love-tune, SixTONES (Band), Snow Man (Japanese Band)
Genre: M/M, Prostitution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-13 01:18:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13559601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormy1990/pseuds/stormy1990
Summary: After all these years of pleasuring people which asked for his services and after making sure to always take more than just his payment with him, how difficult could it be to seduce the captain of a pirate ship? But what Taiga didn't know was that on this new journey he was about to hunt for more than just a pirate’s treasure.





	Treasure Hunt

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally written for chrysiida_tori for the 6tones_fanfics exchange.

“Did you even listen to me?” Juri, the one who had come to the bordel to find a fitting person to entertain his captain, asked Taiga on their way to the ship. The boy just turned to him with a confident smile before he stopped for a moment making Juri turn towards him. “I am not joking when I say he is a complicated case. I hope you really understood what kind of environment awaits you when you board our ship.”

 

Instead of a direct answer Taiga moved his long fingers under Juri’s chin on which the boy took a sharp breath, but didn’t pull away. “You explained all that before already and still I offered to join and don’t forget that you chose me after all, there has to be a good reason for that, isn’t there?”

 

It wasn’t clear if Juri was fascinated or annoyed by the boy’s confidence, but he couldn’t deny that he was right. Searching for the right company for their crews’ captain wasn’t easy and it wouldn’t be the first time if someone made a wrong choice again, but somehow he had a good feeling about Taiga. The boy was almost arrogant through his confident behavior, but maybe that was exactly what their captain needed. He had had enough puppets to play with and in the end he got bored, not leaving any of them unbroken. So maybe instead of a puppet he could use someone who was able to pull the strings this time.

 

***

 

It actually surprised Taiga how organized the ship looked when he scanned his surroundings on their way to the captain’s cabin. Everyone had already waited for Juri to return and so they had set sail the moment they boarded, leaving no chance for Taiga to back out. But why would he? There was more than just the promised money he was after and the first time for him on a pirate ship turned everything into an interesting adventure as well.

 

“Okay, so again, don’t make him angry, don’t speak when you are not ask to and-”

 

Somehow Juri wasn’t even surprised anymore when Taiga touched him instead of using words to answer. He didn’t hesitate to put his finger on Juri’s lips to make him shut up. The boy was used to a lot of body contact after all and as much as Juri knew that Taiga wasn’t here for his own entertainment he couldn’t deny that just the touch of his fingers was enough to arouse him already.

 

“If I mess up I’ll ask you later for your guidance, okay? How about you let me try it my usual way for now?”

 

Juri just nodded when Taiga removed his finger, but brushed over Juri’s underlip on the way and as slow as the movement was it was clearly no accident. Juri cleared his throat before he turned around, trying to ignore the growing wish to drag Taiga inside his cabin instead of handing him over to the captain. With a knock on the door they waited, but there was no answer and so Juri knocked again. “Captain, it’s Juri, may I come in?”

 

No answer, but as always Juri knew that he was in there and he let out a sigh on which Taiga seemed entertained already.

 

“Definitely a complicated case I’d say.”

 

“You have no idea, but you will find out soon yourself,” Juri addressed him before he knocked on the door once more and made a grimace when there was still no reaction. “For god’s sake Hokuto I know that you are in there, we are on a freaking ship, it’s not like you could easily be somewhere else without the crew noticing.”

 

Juri’s sudden harsh words surprised Taiga a lot, but as a member of the crew he knew the captain after all, so he also knew where the limits were and where he was allowed to get angry at the captain’s stubbornness.

 

“If you know that why don’t you just come in?” An annoyed growl was Juri’s only reply before he dared to open the door and signaled Taiga to follow him.

 

The cabin was as expected extremely spacious and Taiga spotted the captain at a desk at the end of the room. He was sitting towards their direction, but his eyes were glued to a map in front of him, while his hands were busy holding tools to measure the distance and find the best route to their goal, which was definitely something important the way the captain was so absorbed in it.

 

“Could you at least for once let go of that stupid map? You are studying it for a felt eternity already, but even Hikaru couldn’t tell you until now how to get safely to that island.”

 

On Juri’s words Hokuto finally looked up at them and it seemed like he was surprised to see an unknown face next to him, which made Taiga realize that he might not have been informed about the new “crew” member.

 

With a loud sound he dropped one of the tools he was holding on the table which actually made Juri flinch a bit, but Taiga wasn’t the slightest scared. He had met way scarier people in his life and he loved challenges after all.

 

“Again?” was all the captain said as he faced Juri who shifted nervously next to Taiga.

 

“We just try to help you,” Juri almost let out in a whisper. Taiga had heard the story from Juri earlier so he knew at least a bit of what was going on. Hokuto had been extremely stressed since they had found the map which was lying in front of him and the crew had tried to distract him as good as possible. First with bringing some people on board, but when their choices seem to have been always wrong, even though the captain was known to enjoy his private time with different and especially entertaining people they had tried different methods as well, but nothing had worked out. So once more they wanted to try their luck and this time they had let Juri choose a person, after all Juri also knew the captain quite well and especially his taste.

 

After a moment of silence Taiga realized that the captain’s eyes were scanning him, which he didn’t mind at all, but then he just lowered his eyes to the map once more and took the tools back in his hands.

 

Juri was about to say something again, but then Hokuto lifted a hand and waved at him. “You can leave. After that weird choice Myuto made the last time I doubt someone else could bring an even more unfitting person, what was that boy’s name? Genki? Let’s see if your taste is better.”

 

That was actually the answer of the next question Juri wanted to ask, but now it was clear that Juri was leaving the room alone and Taiga would definitely stay. The boy got the message as well and gave Juri another confident look before Juri left them alone.

 

Silence fell inside the room as Hokuto kept studying the map, but that also meant Taiga was free to do what he wanted for now and so he wandered through the room, first halting at a bookshelf, filled with books about navigation, shipbuilding and other topics about the sea, but also books which seemed to be about myths and fairytales which made Taiga smile.

 

“Don’t touch them when you can’t even read them,” the captain was suddenly heard behind him when Taiga wanted to choose a random book to pull it out of the shelf. With a chuckle Taiga pulled back and turned to face the captain, but as expected he was still facing the map.

 

“What makes you believe that I can’t read them?”

 

“I’ve met many people from your social class and even if a few of you can write and read it doesn’t mean you understand what is written there.”

 

It didn’t offend Taiga at all what he said, after all he couldn’t deny that it was true for most of the people in the same business.

 

“What if I told you I was different?” Taiga asked playful as he moved over to the bed. While the crew had stock beds or even just hammocks, the captain had a spacious bed on which Taiga let himself drop and he couldn’t deny that he liked it a lot, after all not all places he was called to were that comfortable.

 

“Different how?”

 

On that question Taiga rolled on his stomach and put his chin on his palm, while facing the captain, but again he wasn’t facing him while talking.

 

“I can show you if you come over here.”

 

No response, which didn’t necessarily meant no interest. After all Juri had told him that he was a difficult case, but also not indisposed to share his bed with new people. “Or…” Taiga started as he realized that the captain wouldn’t move, so he stood up and approached the chair. He stopped right next to Hokuto and leant down to his ear, while he moved his hand around his neck, slowly letting his long fingers vanish inside the latter’s collar. “...I can show you right here if you prefer?”

 

This time Hokuto finally reacted and sat up straight while putting the tools down on the table before he turned his head to face Taiga which was still carrying a faint smile while he waited for another reaction of the captain.

 

It was just slightly surprising the boy when the captain suddenly grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back with a rough movement, after all he got handled rough a lot of times and he still didn’t know the captain’s preferences.

 

With the next move the captain was up and made Taiga remove his hand from his shirt while he released him and pushed him slightly backwards.

 

“Get undressed,” he ordered all of a sudden on which Taiga tilted his head in slight amusement.

 

“Are you sure you just want to watch?”

 

When there was no reply, but a scolding look Taiga obeyed and opened his shirt, making sure to give Hokuto’s eyes time to catch up with every movement of his fingers and to scan every new part of skin that got visible. The times when Taiga felt exposed while standing naked in front of someone were long gone and the feeling had changed into something else, something satisfying. He liked the way people were scanning him from head to toe, obviously halting their look on some parts of his body longer. It wasn’t much different with Hokuto, but he still seemed not that much into it on which Taiga wanted to move closer towards him, but before he could do so Hokuto stepped forward and pulled him closer, giving him a harsh kiss. Again something Taiga could handle and he let the latter take full control over the kiss while trying to figure out how he liked it the most, but while he deepened the kiss for a moment he backed off quite fast and pushed Taiga to the back so that he landed on the bed.

 

Hokuto’s look seemed to have darkened a bit out of a sudden before he crawled on the bed, sitting on top of Taiga, pulling him up on the hair again. First Taiga thought he could make him get into the right mood by letting him go wild if that was what he wanted, but something in the latter’s look told him that this wasn’t actually the case and still he handled him quite rough.

 

“If I tied your hands together, gagged you or even cut you, would you complain?”

 

“Why should I? Aren’t I here to pleasure you? If that is what you want to do with me go ahead.”

 

This time it was Hokuto’s turn to chuckle on which Taiga couldn’t stop from looking at him in confusion. The latter pulled him up even more so that their faces were so close that their lips almost touched.

 

“If I wanted a slave which obeyed to all of my orders and didn’t give a shit about his free will or needs I’d have chosen one already and then there wouldn’t be the need to pay money to him in the first place, don’t you think so?”

 

With the next move Hokuto released him and Taiga could do nothing but stare back at him while he got up again, but looked down at him once more. “A doll which plays after the rules of everyone who gives an order, not complaining about whatever weird things are done with it, that’s what you all are and that is what you just proved. You are just the same as they are.”

 

With that Hokuto just went back to the table and studied the map again, not even bothering with giving Taiga any orders. But why should he? Hadn’t he just made clear that this wasn’t the purpose Taiga had been brought here?

 

With a brief smile Taiga sat up on the bed and kept looking at the captain for a while. This was definitely going to be a challenge and Taiga loved testing people’s limits and now that he seemed to be allowed to play after his own rules he couldn’t wait to make this an even more interesting journey for both of them.

 

***

 

Curious looks were what Taiga received the next morning when he walked around the ship as if he was on a normal walk around a shopping street in town. But when he was walking on deck he was abruptly stopped and turned around on the shoulders. When he met Juri’s questioning, yet somehow worried look Taiga smiled back at him.

 

“Morning,” Taiga said on which Juri seemed to have forgotten why he had stopped him.

 

“What are you doing here?” Juri let out after a moment, while he took a look around maybe looking if Hokuto was around.

 

“Taking a walk on deck I think?”

 

“You are not here to take walks,” Juri let out almost scolding. “Did you already mess up?”

 

“Mh, you want to know that because you are the one getting blamed in the end for choosing me?” Taiga asked playfully on which the other one rolled his eyes.

 

“The bigger question is what will happen to you if you mess up. You wouldn't be the first one to not get the luxury of brought to a harbor to get off the ship.”

 

It was obviously confusing Juri that Taiga didn't seem at all scared by what could await him instead he made a step forward resulting in Juri leaning back when Taiga stretched out his hand again. But instead of touching his face this time he moved his fingers over the white shirt he was wearing.

 

“He refused me last night,” Taiga started and Juri found his eyes glued on the other one’s lips while he was speaking. His expression was almost pouting as if he was disappointed in himself. “I've the feeling I won't get anywhere if I don't get to know more about him.”

 

“Then talk to him,” Juri let out, but felt stupid about his own words. After all he knew the best that Hokuto wasn't the talking type.

 

Juri flinched when he suddenly felt Taiga’s breath on his face. He hadn't realized that the boy had come way too close while he pulled Juri back on his shirt as the boy wanted to step back.

 

“Why don't you show me?”

 

“I told you he is complicated-”

 

Taiga’s chuckle interrupted him and he shook his head before his other hand landed on the boy’s hips, moving slowly, but steady down to his crotch.

 

“I don't want you to tell me, show me!”

 

The invitation was more than obvious or was it even an order? Because even though it was a request, Taiga's eyes seemed to not allow Juri to refuse. His look was almost burning him, making him unable to think and before he could even realize what he was doing he had pulled Taiga after him towards his cabin, closing the door while taking a few heavy breaths as if he had run a marathon.

 

Taiga stepped closer to him again and this time Juri didn't flinch on the touch when the boy's hand reached out for him. He pulled him on the front of his shirt more into the room, feeling lucky to find a bed behind him and that Juri had a private cabin in the first place. Sure it wasn't the same as the captain's cabin, but as long as they had a place to lie down he was fine with everything.

 

“If the captain finds out about this he might throw you overboard,” Juri warned him, even though he didn't seem in the mood to do so in the first place.

 

“It's for his sake, right? You brought me here to entertain him, so you have to make sure I know how to and somehow I've the feeling you know exactly what he likes.”

 

Juri gulped on that, showing Taiga that he had guessed right, but having his intimate time with the captain was a story of the past and at some point Hokuto got so obsessed with the map that he forbad all crew members to come to his cabin except it was important business in matters of their route towards their treasure.

 

With the next move Taiga made Juri sit down on the bed and he sat down behind him on his knees, moving his hand slowly into the collar of the boy's shirt while whispering in his ear.

 

“I tried the same yesterday and he made me undress, he kissed me, he even threw me on the bed and then he left me alone for the whole night, telling me he didn't want an obedient slave.”

 

Just listening to that made Juri realize that he got more and more aroused and Taiga’s other hand slowly traveling around his hips and thigh didn't help him to calm down. “Show me how he likes it.”

 

It was the growing excitement which made Juri move and he turned around throwing Taiga on the bed to the boy’s obvious amusement.

 

Juri grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head up a bit while he sat on top of him.

 

“I'll act as you and you as the captain.”

 

Taiga just nodded on that, waiting for Juri’s next move.

 

“The captain gives orders all the time, he doesn't enjoy it when he has to do the same at his private time,” Juri explained while he let go of Taiga’s hair again and moved one hand to the boy’s shirt’s first button, while his other hand landed on his hips, his own hips suddenly starting rubbing over his pants’ fabric. “Guide him, entertain him! Make sure that you keep surprising him then he won't get bored of you.”

 

Taiga moved his own hands to Juri’s hips and followed the boy's movement with his eyes, rocking his own hips up on the way.

 

“You are the one surprising me right now to be honest,” Taiga let out with an eager look on which Juri smirked.

 

“Good, because after all I am acting as you.”

 

Before Taiga could reply anything Juri started opening his shirt with one hand and suddenly leaned down to kiss every part of new skin that came into sight, when his tongue joint in he earned some low moans from Taiga.

 

When the boy had reached his pants Taiga grabbed him by the hair and rocked up his hips once.

 

“You know, as much as I enjoy this, I doubt the captain will let me do him,” Taiga said while Juri rested his hands on his pants with a kind of challenging expression.

 

“Who said you would?”

 

Taiga understood right away and Juri pulled down his pants and underwear in one go while he backed off and sat up, stripping out of his shirt in a slow movement.

 

“Mh, you would definitely fit in our bordel as well, you've got the right moves to entertain people.”

 

“It doesn't really sound like a compliment to me, but I'll be nice and take it as one.”

 

Taiga gave him a lopsided smile on that and waited impatiently until Juri had stripped out of his clothes completely. Taiga sat up for a brief moment to toss his open shirt to the ground and the next moment he was pushed down on his shoulders and a rushed kiss made his lips curl up against Juri’s.

 

“You still have things to show me?”

 

That actually made Juri back off a bit with a startled look on which Taiga formed a teasing smile. “I just mean you said yourself earlier that this can bring you into trouble.”

 

On that Juri rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue before he faced the other one with a scolding look. “I’ve the feeling you wouldn’t even be that much affected if we just got dressed again and pretended that this never happened, but sorry I am not that used to… that kind of treatment.” Juri didn’t know if his words had been a bad choice and he felt slightly guilty for making it sound like Taiga could be tossed around like a doll, but wasn’t that actually how he had been treated until now and hadn’t he also made clear that he didn’t mind?

 

The boy’s long fingers on his face made him wake up from his thoughts and he tilted his head when Taiga kept smiling at him and this time it had nothing teasing in it.

 

“But what if I told you that even though my body doesn’t care that much, my mind can still feel discomfort and disappointment when I’m being left behind?”

 

It gave Juri shivers how Taiga kept looking at him. After all he shouldn’t be with him in the first place, because he brought him here to entertain his captain not more, not less. Why did he feel like he didn’t want to hand Taiga to anyone even though he didn’t belong to him?

 

“Don’t worry, for today I won’t leave you behind,” Juri let out almost soothing while he slowly put his own hand over Taiga’s and guided it away from his skin to press it careful, but firm into the covers while leaning in for another kiss, this time slower and a lot more satisfying.

 

“Then I guess you are allowed to return to be yourself.”

 

That was an invitation Juri couldn’t resist and he didn't find a single good reason not to take it.

 

When he wanted to move a hand down to Taiga’s hips the boy stopped him with a knowing look.

 

“You really think I'd need preparations?”

 

“As you wish,” Juri replied almost challenging before he positioned himself, pure excitement taking over him, after all he was allowed to get a taste of the person he had chosen for their captain first. Okay he wasn't actually allowed to, but that didn't matter anymore and when he slowly pushed in Taiga’s sweet moan made him forget about any kind of regret he carried until now.

 

“You don't have to be that careful,” Taiga was heard after a while in which Juri tried to figure out which pace was acceptable without preparations, but when Taiga reached out for his hips and rocked his own up against his it was obvious that a faster pace was definitely needed.

 

“You know, we were speaking about the captain’s liking, but what about yours?”

 

Juri’s question seem to startle Taiga a lot, but wasn't the reason obvious? Who would ask him how he liked it? Taiga seemed extremely excited all of a sudden and he pulled Juri down into another greedy kiss.

 

“You want to know one of my little secrets?” Taiga asked as he pulled on Juri’s hair so he could whisper into his ear. A shiver ran through the boy’s body on that question and he gulped before nodding on which he received a low chuckle. “I like it rough and I don't mind to not be in control of what is happening.”

 

How could it arouse Juri so much while it should actually make him wonder if Taiga’s way of feeling pleasure had changed through his job or if it had always been of his liking?

 

Before he could think too much about it though the boy's long fingers were suddenly back on his face, but this time Juri took a strong hold on his hand, pushing it back to Taiga's obvious surprise. But then there was another shine in his eyes when Juri took two of his fingers in his mouth and started sucking on them. That move made Taiga move his hips up impatiently on which Juri automatically sped up.

 

Taiga didn’t even need to tell him that he was close, the way his body was shaking under his made it clear and Juri enjoyed it way more than he thought, which lead to his next move and he took Taiga’s fingers out of his mouth again before placing a kiss on the back of his hand. With the next move he trapped both of the boy’s wrists on the mattress on which he got a questioning look from Taiga.

 

“You said you didn’t mind not to be in control, right?” Juri asked on which Taiga’s look changed to curious. Juri leant to the front and licked over the boy’s earlobe on which he received another shiver. “Then let’s see how desperate I can make you.”

 

The low chuckle Taiga released on that made clear that he had understood what the boy meant, but when Juri sat up again a confident look was what he found on the boy’s face.

 

“I am waiting,” Taiga let out teasingly on which Juri thrusted in even deeper and with a faster rhythm on which Taiga let out a low moan and threw his head to the back, but he still didn’t try to free his arms even though he seemed so close already. There was no begging to touch him or to get the chance to do it himself, it almost seemed like he was enjoying it this way even more.

 

And when it was Juri who was about to get desperate Taiga came without a warning, covering their stomachs with the come on which Juri let out a low curse, because the fact that the boy had managed to satisfy his needs on his own had aroused him even more and after the next thrust he came as well with a way too pleasured moan which he tried to hide on the sheets next to Taiga’s head.

 

“Guess as I still have to learn more about the captain you also have to learn more about me,” Taiga teased him as Juri finally moved again and got off the bed to get dressed again, after all it was daytime and their absence would be noticed sooner or later. What made Juri halt so was the meaning of what Taiga had said.

 

“You are not here for me, but for the captain, don’t forget that.”

 

On that Taiga pouted and rolled on his stomach, his body still fully exposed to Juri which made the progress of getting into his clothes slower, because his look always drifted of to the latter.

 

“I might need your help again though. I am not sure how easily I can break through his wall.”

 

“For now just try, okay?” Juri let out as he threw Taiga’s clothes on the bed so the latter could get dressed as well.

 

“You didn’t like it?”

 

The sudden question startled Juri so much that instead of answering he could just stare back at the other one while he got finally off the bed and got dressed as well.

 

When Taiga was back in his clothes he stepped right in front of Juri who blinked a few times as he realized that he had kept staring the whole time.

 

“If you don’t want me here, I won’t come back to your quarters,” Taiga said before he wanted to pass the boy, but Juri finally reacted and grabbed him by the wrist to stop him.

 

“I want you here!”

 

“So you liked it?” Taiga asked with a faint smile on which Juri bit his lip. How was he always so easily distracted by everything the boy did? A small smile, the movements and touch of his fingers.

 

“I did, yes. But as I said before you are-”

 

“Here for the captain, but you know I am not really his boyfriend and he didn’t actually seem to be the type to stick with just one person either, so why should I and why should you?”

 

Juri opened his mouth to reply something, but before he could do so Taiga had stepped even closer, giving him a rushed kiss before he freed his wrist and went over to the door. When he turned around once more a brighter smile was visible on his lips this time.

 

“Anyways, let’s keep this a secret for now. But even if I don’t ask for your help again you are always allowed to ask for mine.”

 

When the door fell shut Juri closed his eyes with a long sigh before he ruffled through his own hair with a low curse. When he had chosen Taiga for the captain he had done it because he knew the captain’s taste, but how could he have known that he had accidently chosen someone who was extremely of his liking as well? And not to forget that this seemed to be the case for Taiga too!

 

Maybe next time it was really Juri who had to ask Taiga for help, because he wasn’t sure anymore if he could even go passed the boy without dragging him back to his cabin.

 

***

 

Taiga’s next approach towards the captain took place at the evening of the same day, but when he walked inside the cabin the captain was at his desk as always.

 

“Do you ever leave that desk? I didn’t see you on deck at all today?”

 

“Weird, because I was there, but at that time you weren’t.”

 

So his opening had failed already, but luckily Hokuto didn’t seem to suspect anything or he just didn’t care. Relieved by the lack of interest towards the topic where he had been Taiga finally dared to approach the desk, but this time he knew better and he stood next to the captain, studying the way he was measuring the distances between something that seemed like riffs around the island.

 

“It seems like there is no way for the ship to make it close to the island,” Taiga let out as he titled his head and tried to understand more of the map, but he couldn’t deny that he had never studied anything related to the sea.

 

“Congratulations, you figured out what we are talking about every single day here on this ship,” Hokuto shot back, not even looking up at him.

 

“Can’t you make it with the boat towards it? Sure the way will take long, but they are small enough to pass the riffs or not?”

 

With a sigh Hokuto put the tools on the table and finally turned to the side to face the other one and to Taiga’s surprise his look wasn’t as annoyed as he thought it would be. If any it showed a really dangerous degree of exhaustion. Taiga couldn’t even remember when Hokuto had slept the night before or if he had joined him in bed at all.

 

“You are speaking to a Captain with a crew which tried to figure out a way for months already. You really think you could find a way while even my navigator can’t?”

 

“I could try? Maybe with the eyes of someone who didn’t study the sea the same way you all did I could find something that could help you?”

 

Taiga got ready to get scolded, maybe to get thrown out of the cabin for today or told to stay silent and leave him alone like the day before, but it came different this time. Without another comment Hokuto got up and walked over to the book shelf, pulling out three books. When he walked back to the desk he stopped in front of Taiga and shoved the books against his chest.

 

“You want to help? Read those books and try your luck. We have studied them many times already, but they couldn’t give us the answers we need. You are free to use the other books in the shelf as well if you think they can somehow help you.”

 

Instead of sitting down again Hokuto walked to a small table in the corner of the room and put the few things that were placed on it to the side and pointed at the chair in front of it.

 

“You can study them there.”

 

Taiga nodded and walked over to him, placing the books on the table before he sat down, taking the first book and opened it. There were some drawing of maps, explaining which symbols were used for riffs, streams and other sea related things.

 

“Did you see this on the map?” Hokuto asked as he pointed at one of the symbols and Taiga nodded before reading the description next to it.

 

“Maelstrom?” He read out loud.

 

“You understand now why we can’t just go there with the small boats?”

 

Taiga nodded and kept reading the explanations of the other symbols, trying to remember them as fast as possible. After all he liked learning new things. It wasn’t common for someone of his social class to be even able to read, but that as well Taiga had learned by himself and knowledge was giving him a huge advantage in many situations he had ended up so far, the same as now. To lure someone didn’t always happen through sexual approaching, but also through showing the other one something interesting and how satisfying would it be if Taiga would be the one to find a way to the island in the end?

 

“We still need over a week to the island, so take your time studying everything, not that I expect you to find a solution, but at least like this you are busy.”

 

With that Hokuto vanished behind his desk again and Taiga didn’t even try to make any other move for the night. For now he tried his luck with the books and maybe finding something helpful could make the captain take his eyes off that map for at least one night.

***

The next morning Taiga was the one who woke up first and he had to smile on the sight of Hokuto sleeping next to him. He looked so calm and almost younger than he was. It had actually been Hokuto the evening before who had urged Taiga to sleep, because he wasn’t used to reading so much and he soon had gotten a headache, but didn’t want to give up before the captain. So in the end Hokuto had agreed to go to bed as well and he had obviously been in need of sleep, because it took barely minutes for him to fall asleep next to Taiga and the boy hadn’t been able to stop himself from at least touching his face for a while to study his features.

 

Now that it was morning though he didn’t want to wake him up so he got up as quiet as possible and walked over to the desk, taking a look at the map again. Just through the first book he had studied the evening before he could already understand more of it, but of course still not everything.

 

He walked over to his own table and took the second book in his hand and opened it, revealing explanations about how to use the tools to analyze the maps and measure the distances. First he wanted to sit down and start reading, but then he came up with a spontaneous idea and he looked over to the bed again, but the captain was still deep asleep. Without giving it a second thought he took the map from the desk and left the room.

 

After a few minutes of searching through the ship he had found the cabin he was looking for and the door was half open, revealing the person he was searching for on a desk full of maps and books.

 

“May I come in?” Taiga asked as he knocked on the doorframe and the other one looked over his shoulder and his look turned to confused as he saw Taiga.

 

“What are you doing here?” Hikaru, the navigator of the ship asked.

 

“I’ve a few questions if you don’t mind?”

 

When Taiga held up the map, Hikaru’s eyes went wide for a moment before he shook his head and turned back to his desk. Then he lifted his hand and waved the boy over to him.

 

“You know that the captain will skin you alive if he finds out that you took the map without his permission.”

 

“Who said I just took it?”

 

On that Hikaru let out a chuckle before he took the map from Taiga and put it on the desk in front of him. “Trust me he would protect this map with his life, so there is no way he just handed it to you like this.”

 

That actually made Taiga worry that if Hokuto woke up now that he would be extremely angry at him and all his efforts from the night before would be good for nothing.

 

“I am helping the captain to find a way to the island, but I need to know more about what to be careful of, how to read and analyze the map and instead of reading all the books I thought maybe you could explain me a few things to be able to understand everything faster.”

 

Hikaru lifted an eyebrow at him on that. “Boy, you know how many years we all studied those things? And you want me to explain it to you in barely minutes?”

 

“I can come each day and you teach me bit by bit? And in the remaining time I use the books and when I don’t understand something I come and ask you?” Taiga suggested and after all they didn’t have so many other things to do on the ship for one week on the sea, right? But Hikaru looked skeptical, his eyes now back on the map and he rested his elbows on the desk with a thoughtful expression.

 

Hikaru’s hesitation made Taiga switch to another method, one he was used to a lot to get what he wanted and even though it didn’t work with the captain it didn’t mean it couldn’t work with the other crew members.

 

With a careful touch Taiga moved his fingers over the latter’s shoulders on which Hikaru tensed a bit.

 

“You know I can’t actually offer you any money or gold, but if you want payment for teaching me I can offer something different.”

 

Taiga dared to move his hand to the other one’s neck while his other hand was slowly sliding down his shoulder to his chest. There was no actual move of resistance, but also not really a sign of acceptance.

 

“How about I make you the offer to first receive payment and then decide if you want to teach me?” Taiga whispered next to his ear.

 

“How about I make you the offer to leave in one piece?” Someone else was heard next to him out of a sudden and Taiga had no time to turn around as a knife got pressed against his clothes, but not where he had expected it. He looked down to his crotch where the knife was pressed against his inner thigh. With a slow movement he took his hands away from Hikaru and looked carefully to the side, finding Myuto standing next to him with a death glare hitting him.

 

“I swear the next time you touch him I will make sure you’ll never be able to even touch yourself again.”

 

“Understood,” Taiga let out with his arms still lifted up, but when Hikaru started chuckling Myuto finally removed the knife and pulled Taiga away from the desk.

 

“Myuto, don’t be so overdramatic. You know I wouldn’t have said yes anyway.”

 

“Oh, really? You didn’t seem to mind him touching you though?” Myuto let out in a scolding tone on which Hikaru pulled the other one towards him and Myuto sat down on the older one’s lap.

 

“It’s his way of handling things, don’t judge him for trying.”

 

“I am judging you for letting him offer it idiot,” Myuto said before he hit the other one lightly against the forehead.

 

“Sorry?” Hikaru let out playful while his hands suddenly moved lower from Myuto’s back to his hips and the latter crossed his arms around Hikaru’s neck before he leant closer.

 

“Fine, apology accepted.”

 

With that Myuto leant in for a lustful kiss and all of a sudden Taiga felt more than out of place, but he hadn’t forgotten about the map, but somehow he didn’t dare to just walk over and get it back, but that didn’t mean that he bothered with looking away. He was used to seeing other people making out in front of him or also together with him if it was of their liking and those two didn’t seem to mind either that they had a spectator.

 

When Myuto pulled away again he looked up to Taiga before he turned around and snatched the map away from the desk, holding it out to him.

 

“Hikaru is busy with finding a solution himself so if you want someone to explain things to you, ask the captain.”

 

Taiga stepped forward and took the map from the other one before his look fell on Hikaru who looked over his shoulder at him with an expression that could have almost been called apologizing. But before he could say anything Myuto had redirected Hikaru’s attention to him again and before things could get too intimate Taiga left the room and closed the door behind him. At least now he knew that this cabin was definitely one he needed to knock first before entering.

 

***

 

The next two days passed with the same pattern, Taiga and the captain studying the map, ending up with a headache and going to bed. Juri had asked Taiga about how things were going of course and he seemed surprised that Hokuto had let Taiga help in the first place. It seemed like Hokuto would normally see everyone as a distraction when it came to such topics, so Taiga knew he was on the right way and with the next night arriving and Hokuto seeming even more stressed out than the nights before Taiga tried his luck again.

 

“What about this small passage?” Taiga asked as he stood next to the desk, pointing at a part of the map, but Hokuto shook his head.

 

“Not deep enough for the ship to enter and for the boats the stream is too strong.”

 

With a sigh Hokuto fell back on his chair and rubbed his temples with a groan.

 

“Don’t you think you should call it a day? You won’t come up with anything if your head seems like exploding.”

 

“Until I found a solution my head won’t be able to get clear again anyway, so it doesn’t matter if I take a rest or not,” Hokuto said before he wanted to take the tools back into his hand, but before he could do so Taiga snatched them away and put them aside on which Hokuto raised an eyebrow at him.

 

“If you allow yourself to take a break you can actually clear your head, but you have to fight against your obsession with this map. So take a rest for now!”

 

Taiga’s tone was what seemed to startle Hokuto, because this time he wasn’t asking or suggesting anything, he ordered him around and somehow that brought a new look on the captain’s face.

 

“I don’t need anyone to tell me how to handle myself,” Hokuto let out in a dangerous voice, but Taiga could see in his eyes that he already enjoyed Taiga’s way of speaking to him.

 

“Oh really? I’d say you suck extremely at taking care of yourself. Maybe that is also why you are so bad at getting to find a solution to this map problem? Who knows what else you have difficulties with?” With the next step Taiga leant closer to the latter and leant with his legs against the desk. “Is this why you refused me until now? Is there the lack of confidence speaking?”

 

It happened faster than Taiga had thought and definitely not in the way he expected Hokuto to attack. The captain had jumped up from the chair and grabbed Taiga’s legs on the way, so that he landed with his back on the desk. Hokuto shoved everything to the side, but of course he was careful with the map, but his attention was clearly on Taiga to his satisfaction.

 

“You really know how to annoy people,” Hokuto let out in a dangerous tone, but instead of feeling scared Taiga dared to close his legs around the other one's hips to pull him closer on which Hokuto had to put one hand on the desk to stabilize himself.

 

“And you know how to surprise people,” Taiga let out innocently while he waited for the latter’s next move. To his surprise he received a greedy kiss out of a sudden. Positively surprised by the captain’s sudden interest Taiga moved his hands to the latter’s hair and pulled on it the moment Hokuto invaded his mouth with his tongue. A few low moans got swallowed by the kiss in between before Hokuto backed off again, but instead of retreating completely he moved his lips down to Taiga’s chin and bit on his jawline before he moved his tongue teasingly down to the latter’s throat on which Taiga gulped and let out a long breath.

 

“You want more?” Hokuto whispered against his skin as his teeth had found his earlobe after a moment and of course Taiga nodded. “Then get us to that island and you might get what you want.”

 

It took Taiga more than by surprise when Hokuto straighten his back and made Taiga put his legs down. With a confused look he sat up on the desk while Hokuto grabbed the map from the table and left the room without another word.

 

Still speechless Taiga stared after him, blinking a few times in confusion before he tilted his head in amusement and a lopsided smile appeared on his lips. “Oh trust me if we reach that island I'll get even more than you are willing to give me!”

 

***

 

“Juri...Juuuuri~”

 

First Juri thought the voice was part of his dream, but when someone poked him against the cheek he realized that it was definitely a real person, which made him flinch as he realized that no one should actually be next to him. After all it was in the middle of the night and he was in his cabin, alone until he had fallen asleep.

 

“For god’s sake Taiga, you scared the heck out of me!” Juri scolded the boy as he sat up, on which the boy looked up at him with a apologizing, yet teasing expression. He had been sitting next to the bed and when Juri had opened his eyes he was right in front of him.

 

“Sorry?”

 

“What are you doing here? Isn’t it still in the middle of the night? Did something happen?”

 

Taiga escaped a chuckle on the boy’s questions on which Juri lifted an eyebrow at him.

 

“What?”

 

“I am just amused about your honest worry, that’s all,” Taiga admitted as he stood up just to sneak on the bed and instead of scolding the boy Juri automatically made space for him.

 

“So why are you here?”

 

Instead of answering directly Taiga sneaked closer to Juri. The boy didn’t seem to mind and leant with his back at the wall as Taiga lay on his back and placed his head on the other one’s legs so that he could look up at him.

 

“I was bored.”

 

“Did he refuse again?”

 

“More or less, but he ran off with the map at some point, I think he tries to find a route together with Hikaru, but he hasn’t come back at all for the night.”

 

“Wow, he might seriously be annoyed by you if he tries to go on distance that much,” Juri let out with a chuckle on which Taiga formed a smile.

 

“Or he tries to run away, because he knows he will soon give in.”

 

“Oh you got him that far already?”

 

“Let’s say tonight there was a point where I wasn’t sure anymore who of us was the whore.”

 

That actually made Juri laugh and Taiga caught himself how he kept staring at the boy’s face. Somehow he had started feeling the calmest when he was around Juri and his smile was something that he would never forget, even if he had to leave the crew at some point.

 

“What do you like about me?” Taiga asked out of a sudden and the question obviously startled Juri a bit.

 

“What exactly do you mean?”

 

“Nothing special, just tell me what comes to your mind,” Taiga replied as he waited patiently for Juri to think of something and he didn’t have to wait for long as the boy searched for Taiga’s hand and lifted it up to his face to place a kiss on it.

 

“I love your hands for example,” Juri replied almost sheepish on which Taiga cracked a smile. While Juri entwined their hands he moved his free hand to Taiga’s face and moved it carefully over his cheek until he reached the boy’s lips.

 

“I love your smile.”

 

“There we have something in common,” Taiga replied on which it seemed like Juri blushed, but he still didn’t look away. “Anything else?”

 

“Are you that desperate for compliments?”

 

On that Taiga lifted his arm and snapped his finger against the other one’s forehead. “Always, you know?”

 

When Juri suddenly shifted away under him Taiga feared he had made him angry with his typical ironic attitude, but then Juri grabbed the sheet and pulled it over both of them as he lay down next to Taiga.

 

“Sorry for waking you up, you must be tired,” Taiga apologized on that move, but this time it was Juri who hit him and cracked another smile.

 

“You can wake me each night if you want, but if you haven’t realized, it’s quite cold, so I figured like this we won’t keep freezing.”

 

“So thoughtful of you,” Taiga let out teasingly on which Juri suddenly reached out for his cheeks and tried to pinch him. Taiga squealed on that move and tried to shift away, but Juri wouldn’t let him and put a leg over the boy’s hip so that he couldn’t shift away.

 

“Okay, okay got it. No more teasing,” Taiga apologized laughing before Juri pulled back.

 

“Oh, you are giving up that easily?”

 

“You want me to keep teasing you? If you like it I can go on forever,” Taiga replied with a lopsided smile. Juri pulled him closer on that and placed a kiss on his forehead.

 

“Maybe when we are both more awake, but for now we should maybe really sleep. You’ve to go back to the captain’s cabin in the morning and check if he has returned. You should already get a good excuse for not being there and “I slept in Juri’s cabin” shouldn’t be part of that excuse.”

 

Both boys let out a chuckle on that before Taiga sneaked closer to Juri and the latter put a kiss on his hair, before he closed his arms around him.

 

“I’d say if this becomes a habit it gets dangerous for both of us,” Juri let out, but before Taiga could answer something the boy had already fallen asleep.

 

But as much as Taiga remembered Juri’s warning of not making the captain angry there was something that made him come back to Juri at times like this and it didn’t happen often until now that he actually felt lonely. Maybe because this time he finally had found someone he could come back to if he wanted to? Someone who told him that he would be there for him if he needed him? Dangerous or not, slowly Taiga’s goals for his adventure were changing towards another direction.

 

***

 

When early afternoon arrived Taiga tossed the book on the table with a sigh.

 

“You can take a break, it’s not like I’ve thought you could help anyway,” Hokuto said while he kept studying the map. They were just one night away from the Island, but had still no clue how to get on it and with that of course the captain’s mood had dropped even more. There were a few moments here and there were Taiga tried and sometimes succeeded in getting him into the right mood, but Hokuto was too focused on the map to let go for good and so Taiga had sneaked away to Juri several times over the last days.

 

“My eyes hurt, that’s all. It’s extremely dark today.”

 

On that Hokuto turned to look out the huge cabin window at the stern of the ship. It was truly an extreme dark day, with a lot of heavy clouds.

 

“Seems like a storm is approaching,” Hokuto said before he got up and took the small gas lamp from the side of the table and put it in front of Taiga. “I’ll go on deck and check with the crew that everything is safe if we really get into a storm.”

 

He walked over to the door and left without another word on which Taiga dropped with his back against the chair and closed his eyes for a moment. He could actually feel how the ship was moving more today than usually. So they would reach the Island under the worst conditions.

 

After a moment Taiga got up and walked over to Hokuto’s desk to get the map, when he sat down at his table again he let it drop on his legs, but he had already found out that he could stare at it for days and still wouldn’t find a way, after all neither the Captain nor Hikaru had found one until now.

 

“How the hell did they bring that treasure on this Island in the first place?” Taiga asked himself as he lifted the map up and dropped back at the chair again. At least through the lamp Hokuto had put on the table his eyes could focus better than before and that was when he narrowed his eyes as he realized something weird about the map. Not sure if he was seeing right he put the map closer to the lamp and took a closer look, making sure that his eyes weren’t too exhausted already and made things up.

 

“That can’t be…that easy?” Taiga whispered before he jumped up and ran out the room to find the captain.

 

Minutes later he dragged Hokuto with him back into the cabin, Hokuto asking him nonstop what he was doing, but for now Taiga didn’t want to make a ruckus in front of the crew, without confirming with the captain that what he had seen on the map was actually helping them.

 

“By the way you know that I would have killed you if the map would have been blown away by the wind the moment you came on deck?”

 

“A few minutes ago I’d have said it doesn’t matter, because Hikaru has a lot of copies, but then I realized this is the only map which will bring us to the Island!”

 

When Hokuto lifted an eyebrow in disbelieve on Taiga’s word the boy pointed towards the chair. “I’ll explain. Sit down and take the map,” Taiga ordered and being curious what he had found Hokuto did how he was told.

 

“Hold it in front of the light,” Taiga said as he guided Hokuto’s hands into the right position. “Take a look at the marks telling us where the treasure is hidden.”

 

“Yes, and?”

 

“Now take a look at the other symbols of the Island, compare the lines.”

 

Hokuto needed a moment to understand what he meant, but he didn’t seem that surprised about what he saw. “Sure the color of the ink of the original map is different, it’s older after all. They added the location of the treasure later, that’s normal. It’s not like they drew the map of the Island themselves.”

 

“But they didn’t just add the location of the treasure,” Taiga continued on which Hokuto took a closer look and after a moment of searching he gasped.

 

“Those bastards!”

 

“Extremely smart move if you ask me,” Taiga let out while he moved away from the table and walked over to Hokuto’s desk and leant with his legs against it.

 

Hokuto let out an annoyed growl as he kept studying the part of the map which had been actually added to the map later. A few of the riffs and streams were added later as the color of the ink showed against the light.

 

“Guess there is a passage to enter the Island after all?” Taiga asked curiously, but for a moment there was no answer. The captain kept studying the map for a few minutes before he stood up and approached Taiga with big steps, tossing the map on the desk before he took Taiga by full surprise as he grabbed him by the back of the hair and pulled his head a bit to the back before he gave him a rushed kiss. With the next move he pushed Taiga away from the desk and on the bed.

 

“Is this your way of saying thank you?” Taiga asked amused as they parted again and Hokuto lost no time to get rid of his shirt on which Taiga formed a teasing smile. “Guess your mind can finally occupy with something else?”

 

Instead of a direct answer Hokuto leant down to him again and moved one hand alongside the boy’s neck and forced his head a bit more to the back as he bit on his jawline, resulting in Taiga letting out a low moan before he dared to move one leg around Hokuto’s hips.

 

“I told you that if you found a way on the Island you would get more,” Hokuto let out in a low almost husky voice on which a shiver ran through Taiga’s body.

 

Hokuto didn’t actually take it slow and he was already impatiently trying to get rid of Taiga’s shirt and his mouth kept exploring each new part of skin that got exposed while he moved the shirt up. Taiga wanted to help him getting the shirt over his head, but suddenly there was an ominous creaking running through the wood of the ship and the next moment a huge wave crushed into them, making the whole ship move to one direction with a jerk, ending with both of them falling off the bed while most things in the room got tossed to the ground.

 

“Shit,” Hokuto let out as he got up again, rubbing his head after he had ended up hitting it against the wall while falling. Most of the books of the shelf had also ended up on the ground and Taiga had ended up right between them.

 

“What’s going on?” Taiga asked while he carefully got up, getting ready to get thrown off balance with the next wave.

 

“The storm must have turned even heavier,” Hokuto said and was confirmed as he looked out the window, huge waves forming all around the ship with a heavy rain making it hard to see. He picked up his shirt from the ground and rushed to the desk, putting all maps and equipment inside the drawers and locking them. Taiga hurried to the table where the lamp had just fallen down to make sure that nothing would catch fire.

 

When Taiga turned around Hokuto was already dashing out the door and after Taiga had made sure that nothing would actually get huge damage he hurried after him. When he reached the stairs to the deck the next big wave hit them and he almost fell down again and when the next wave actually reached over the ship the moment he reached the deck the water flooded the ship, ripping everything with it through the force. Taiga let out a small scream when he ended up right in the middle of that wave and got dragged to the side of the deck. At the last moment before the water could drag him over the railing someone grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back.

 

“Are you crazy? What are you doing on deck?” Juri scolded him while he took a tight hold on his wrist and pulled him up to the quarter deck where the waves were still not reaching. While Juri seemed not to have problems to keep his balance at all, Taiga needed to cling to his waist with the next wave to not get thrown down again. “You are not moving away from my side, is that clear? I am not in the mood to jump after you if you fall off!”

 

“Oh trust me I won’t go anywhere,” Taiga let out while he kept clinging to Juri. The crew was busy taking in the sails and Taiga was quite impressed how they all succeeded in doing proper work even with the strong waves and wind making it extremely hard to even walk normally for him. He spotted Hokuto on the steering wheel with Hikaru and Myuto next to them. The wind was too strong to understand them even though they were just a few meters away, but they didn’t seem to try and change the course.

 

“We found a way to the island,” Taiga announced on which Juri looked at him with wide eyes.

 

“You mean the captain finally found a way?”

 

“Actually I did, but I guess rewarding time for that has to wait,” Taiga replied with a smirk on which Juri shook his head.

 

“I’ve the feeling you two are just not meant to get to do it,” Juri let out with a teasing smile.

 

“Maybe I am meant to be with someone else instead?”

 

Juri’s look turned to confused on that, but the next wave disturbed their conversation and they actually decided to get under deck for now, to make sure that they would make it in one piece to the Island.

 

***

 

“What do you think you are doing?” Hokuto asked Taiga when they had finally reached the Island the next morning. Taiga was walking up to the boats with Myuto, Hikaru and Juri which were supposed to go on the island to search for the treasure. The other crew members had been ordered to repair the damage the storm had caused the night before.

 

“Joining you I guess?”

 

“Right, so that you can run into the first best trap on our way,” Hikaru let out while he put a few bags on the boat.

 

“Or even worse, get us into danger through doing something stupid,” Myuto added.

 

“But I could also be helpful to you. After all I found the way to the Island as well, right? Maybe you need me later as well to find a way you’d normally don’t think of?”

 

“Getting cocky now that you found something by pure coincidence?” Myuto asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Let him join,” Hokuto let out to everyone’s surprise.

 

“Are you sure?” Hikaru asked worried.

 

“There is one condition though! Someone has to have an eye on him and it will definitely not be me.”

 

On that Taiga automatically made a step away from Hikaru and Myuto, which resulted in him standing right next to Juri.

 

“Great choice, like this you’ll both get killed at the same time,” Myuto let out on which Juri pouted.

 

“I will remind you of that the moment you end up falling into the first trap.”

 

“Guys, this isn’t a challenge nor a game, so get on the boat now,” Hikaru interrupted them.

 

Minutes later they finally reached the Island and Hokuto didn’t lose time to find the right route towards the treasure’s location.

 

“I warn you all again, this Island might have a few traps on the way, especially close to the treasure so watch out. It also seems to have a lot of caves and abysses so don’t make me leave you behind!” With that Hokuto started moving inside the forest which covered most parts of the Island. It was also filled with a lot of small mountains and tales in between.

 

“Great choice of words. We won’t hear a “don’t make me rescue you” from him, right?” Taiga whispered next to Juri while both walked a bit behind the others.

 

“Definitely not,” Juri replied half joking, half worried.

 

To their surprise they made it quite close to the location without getting into any trouble. There had been one moment where Hikaru suddenly pulled Myuto to the side and that just one step before he would have ended up falling into a hole with wooden spears on the ground, hidden under leaves and branches. That had of course resulted in Juri teasing him for a while, but soon Juri had also almost ended up in another trap, a sling on the ground, which would have definitely made him hang from a tree upside down, but luckily Taiga had seen it before anyone could step into it.

 

“Okay so this won’t be easy,” Hikaru let out as they all stopped in front of a cave. It was steep right from the entrance and pitch black after just a few meters.

 

“Couldn’t they have just buried it somewhere instead,” Myuto complained.

 

“Did you bring the torches?” Hokuto asked Hikaru on which he handed him one, kept one for himself and handed one to Juri. “Okay we have maybe one hour before they go out, so make sure not to get lost,” Hokuto announced before Hikaru lid up the torches for them and they started moving inside the cave.

 

Taiga slipped a few times on the wet steep surface at the entrance, but Juri made sure that he wouldn’t end up hurt, after all they would have to carry him back to the boat then and while Juri would do that no matter what, Hokuto could end up leaving both of them behind for being too slow.

 

“Watch out where you go, I’ve the feeling there are a lot of places where you will never be able to come up from again if you fall,” Juri said in a low voice, making sure that the echo of their voices wouldn’t make the walls of the cave vibrate.

 

“Really encouraging you know?”

 

“You were the one who wanted to come, right?”

 

“I just feel safer when I am around you, you know?”

 

That made Juri hold and Taiga almost stumbled as he bumped into him. Taiga couldn’t see clearly with just the light of the torch and the other three were already several meters in front of them, but he could see that something was troubling Juri.

 

“What is it? Did I say something bad?”

 

“No,” Juri let out a bit too loud and looked worried towards the others, but they kept moving. “No, not at all. It’s just, you know…” Juri let out a sigh on which Taiga stepped even closer and moved the torch closer to their faces to be able to read the boy’s emotions.

 

“You don’t want me around after all?”

 

“No, I- I want you around, but it’s just you know, I’ve seen how the captain got bored of the people we brought or got angry at them for doing stupid things. And don’t forget, we are pirates after all! Just because the captain behaves calmly most of the time doesn’t mean that he can’t slit your throat without a warning...or mine.”

 

Now Taiga understood Juri’s worry and he felt guilty for bringing the crew member he cared most for in such a complicated situation. After all he definitely didn’t want him to get punished for playing around with the person he himself had originally brought for the captain’s entertainment. But then there was an idea forming in the boy’s mind and he looked up at Juri with a smile.

 

“Guess then we have to find a solution when we are back on the ship and I might already found one. Come on.”

 

Without giving Juri the chance to ask for an explanation Taiga dragged him along. For now finding the treasure and getting back to the ship was the important part. His new plan wouldn’t work anyway if they didn’t make it back.

 

While they kept following the others deeper into the cave, Taiga suddenly felt as if a breeze had come up from somewhere inside the cave and he stopped, turning around again.

 

“What are you doing, we will lose them!” Juri scolded him, but Taiga suddenly started walking away from him. “Are you out of your mind, you don’t even have the torch,” Juri hissed, but Taiga held up his hand.

 

“Wait, just stay over there for a moment.” Taiga said and Juri kept shifting impatiently while he couldn’t even see Taiga anymore after a few more steps.

 

“Would you please come back here?”

 

“I found it!” Taiga announced all of a sudden.

 

“What?”

 

“Get the others back here, they are walking towards the wrong direction.”

 

Instead of doubting the boy’s words Juri did how he was told, but warned Taiga to not move even a centimeter from where he was standing to make sure they would find him again.

 

“There is nothing here, what are you even talking about?” Myuto was heard as they all walked back towards the direction Taiga was waiting for them.

 

“Captain, please hand the torch to Myuto and come over here for a moment,” Taiga said and Hokuto carefully walked over to the part of the cave where he assumed Taiga was standing at, because he couldn’t see anything without the torch, but then suddenly he was able to see Taiga when he came closer to what they had assumed would just be a normal wall.

 

“What is this?” Hokuto asked as there was light showing from somewhere down at Taiga’s feet.

 

“It seems like a connection to another cave, but even though the sunlight seems to reach into it, I doubt there is another entrance.”

 

“Mh, guess you were helpful after all,” Hokuto praised him before he ordered the others over as well. When he turned back to Taiga there was a light confusion shown on his face which Taiga didn’t quite understand.

 

“Did I do something wrong?”

 

“I just expected you to be all teasing again and ask for another reward for finding the path.”

 

“Mh, yeah I should actually do that,” Taiga replied with a light smile, but it was obviously not the same attitude he normally showed to get the captain’s attention. The captain didn’t seem to mind for now, after all the treasure was way more important and in silence they all climbed down the small entrance to the other cave. The ceiling was low for several meters, but soon they reached a wider space and all of them stopped dead on their tracks on the view in front of them.

 

“Wow,” was all Taiga could think of as he saw all the gold, diamonds and other treasures in front of him. As he had expected there was sunlight piercing in from above, but the ceiling was way too high to be reached by climbing and water was flowing down the walls, making them stand in a small river which was flowing around the stone formation in the middle on which the treasure was places.

 

Myuto let out a squeal and jumped right into the treasure on which Hikaru had to smile, because he suddenly looked like a five year old boy on the playground.

 

“So how do we get it out from here?” Taiga asked Juri who looked over to the captain.

 

“Now that we know the location we can try and lift it through the opening in the ceiling. We might not be able to enter from there, but I guess they also brought it down here with ropes.”

 

They all nodded on that and moved over to the treasure, Taiga lifting up a few gold coins while Hokuto tried to open the treasure chest which was placed in the middle. Never had he seen such a treasure before. Sure there had been stories about pirates and them hunting after hidden treasures, but never had he thought of being part of the crew which found one.

 

“Guess you’ll get your payment partly from here,” Juri said as he looked at the gold coins in Taiga’s hand.

 

Taiga turned to the boy and handed him the coins with a smile. “Even if not, I’ll make sure to get the payment I want.”

 

Juri blinked in confusion a few times, but Taiga just chuckled and moved alongside the wall on the other side. The water running down from the wall seemed to come through the walls on one side as well and that was where he stopped for a brief moment.

 

“Do you hear that?” Taiga asked as he touched the wall and he could feel how it was slightly vibrating. Juri stepped next to him and put his hand next to Taiga’s and tilted his head.

 

“Seems like the water is flowing through the cave. Especially with the storm from yesterday the pressure must have risen up.”

 

Juri took a closer look at the wall before he stepped back with a sceptic look. “Maybe we should get out for now and come back with the crew tomorrow. It will be easier to lift everything out when there is not so much water inside the cave.”

 

Juri walked over to the captain to ask him how to proceed from now on, while Hikaru and Myuto had helped him opening the chest. Taiga remained at the wall for a while longer walking alongside it until he realized that there was a quite strong stream coming from the lower part of the wall.

 

“Taiga, we are leaving, come on,” Juri shouted over to him as the others were already heading back to the entrance when suddenly the walls starting shaking.

 

“An earthquake?” Myuto asked worried, but Hokuto shook his head. They kept looking around the cave until Hokuto’s eyes landed on Taiga who was looking to the ceiling of the cave which made him miss the fact that the sound was actually coming from right behind him.

 

“It’s the water pressure on the wall,” Hokuto let out and that made all of them turn to Taiga who swirled around the moment a huge crack appeared in the wall right behind him.

 

“TAIGA, GET AWAY FROM THE WALL,” Juri shouted and started running towards him at the same moment, but it had already been too late. The moment Taiga made the first step away from the wall the water burst through the crack making the wall crumble.

 

While Hikaru, Myuto and Hokuto jumped to the back, Juri tried to get there in time, but he got stopped by some huge stones dropping right in front of him after he had made it to the other side of the cave.

 

“TAIGA!” Desperately he jumped on the rocks, trying to not get dragged away by the strong stream which was now breaking free and filled the cave with water. The treasure was heavy enough to not get moved by it, but their way back would be blocked soon through the water. They had also dropped the torches through their sudden escape from the falling rocks through which the way back through the dark cave would be even harder.

 

Juri started lifting up the first rocks, but he didn’t know where to search, because he couldn’t tell anymore where he had seen Taiga last.

 

“No, no, no, please no,” Juri kept yelling while he tried to somehow find Taiga, even though the weight of the rocks made already clear that if someone ended up underneath them there was no way to survive it. Also the water was covering the whole area already, which made Juri scream out in despair when he couldn’t lift up the next rock. But then the rock was lifted out of his hands when Hikaru and Myuto were suddenly next to him. For a brief moment he halted, watching how even Hokuto had ran over to them and helped him to lift up the stones.

 

“Juri, don’t just stand there,” Hokuto scolded him and Juri jolted as he realized that he had spaced out. Barely minutes had passed since they started searching maybe even less, but Juri was close to get a breakdown and give up hope as the water level kept rising.

 

“I FOUND HIM,” Myuto was heard the next moment, but when Juri looked up he saw Myuto at the end of the broken wall, jumping into the water and diving down.

 

“His leg is trapped he can’t get up,” Hikaru shouted over to Hokuto and Juri which hurried over to them. Juri wasn’t sure if he should feel stupid for not thinking of the possibility that Taiga had jumped to the side as the wall broke or just be relieved for now that he hadn’t been killed by the rocks.

 

“I can’t pull him out,” Myuto said as he came back to the surface. But getting him out was secondary for Juri for now and he dived into the water and when he reached Taiga he ignored his trapped leg and went for his face for now, cupping it and trying to see if he reacted, but as expected he didn’t. Before he could run out of air he leant forward and tried to get as much air as possible into Taiga’s lungs without letting too much water inside on the way. But there was still no reaction and he had no other choice than get up again.

 

When he broke through the surface he just took one deep breath before he went back down, trying again, but once more nothing.

 

“Let’s try and get those stupid rocks off his leg,” Hokuto was heard when Juri had to come to the surface once more and if he had the time he would thank the captain a thousand times for ignoring his own words and helping Taiga instead of leaving him behind. But for now he left the rocks to the three others while he dived down once more, trying again and just when he wanted to back off Taiga’s body suddenly jolted and Juri had to keep his lips forcefully on Taiga’s and held his nose as well to make sure that the boy wouldn’t swallow even more water through the shock, which wasn’t of course easy, because it was clear that Taiga had already swallowed a lot of water and his lunges screamed to be allowed to let it out. When Juri backed off he put his hand over the boy’s mouth and shook his head, signaling him that he had to get up for air again. Taiga’s look almost physically hurt Juri, because he seemed in so much pain and struggled so much to not start coughing under water when Juri got up again.

 

“He’s conscious again, but we have to hurry,” Juri shouted up at the three before he dived back in. Taiga clawed his hands into the latter’s sleeves the moment he reached him and pulled him forcefully into the next kiss and it felt like he was draining Juri of all air, which made him struggle sooner this time, because he started to feel dizzy as well through the lag of air. But just when he tried to rip himself free from Taiga there were hands on the back of his shirt pulling him back up and when he broke through the surface he got ready to complain to Hokuto who had pulled him up, but then he saw how Hikaru was pulling up Taiga as well and the boy started coughing immediately.

 

Ignoring everyone around him Juri sat down next to Taiga and clapped him a few times on the back until his breathing pace calmed down a little bit. To Juri’s surprise Taiga suddenly sat up and pulled Juri in a hug. The boy closed his arms protectively around him and rested his chin on the other one’s hair.

 

“It’s okay, everything is okay,” he whispered while Taiga’s body kept shaking against his.

 

“Guys, I am sorry to interrupt, but even though I am also happy that we are all still alive this could change if we don’t get out here immediately,” Hikaru said impatiently. “If the water level rises just a few centimeters more we are trapped in here and I doubt we will make it up the walls to the ceiling.”

 

Juri helped Taiga up, but when he tried to make a step he hissed and had to hold on to Juri’s arm to not stumble.

 

“I doubt I can walk like this,” Taiga announced apologizing. He could barely feel his leg. If it was broken or not he couldn’t tell, but he could definitely not walk.

 

“Don’t even try, Juri!” Hikaru was suddenly heard before Juri could actually move more than a few centimeters. “You won’t be able to carry him out anyway.”

 

Juri got ready to protest, but Hokuto shot him a warning glare, after all it wasn’t the timing to play tough and so Juri stepped aside when Hikaru walked over to them and together they helped Taiga on Hikaru’s back.

 

“Ok, let’s get out of here. We can come back tomorrow with the whole crew when the stream has calmed down,” Hokuto announced and leaded the way back through the low corridor through which they had entered.

 

***

 

“Are you going to keep throwing me that death glare each time you come in here?” Taiga asked when Hokuto entered the cabin.

 

“I see just a few hours later you can already get on people’s nerves again.”

 

“Hey, no one has forced you to keep me in your cabin. You can push me off to someone else when you are busy with your preparations of lifting the treasure tomorrow. You ran out and in the room for like a dozen times by now.”

 

On that Hokuto finally sat down at his desk, while Taiga was half lying on the bed, his back slightly lifted up with pillows and his leg bandaged. He had been lucky, because the bone hadn’t been broken, but his leg had taken some damage nevertheless and he was told by everyone to rest and he was forbidden to leave the ship for now.

 

“Do you even know how lucky you are that you are still alive?”

 

“I’d say that is thanks to you, because if you had actually did what you said you’d do when someone got into trouble I’d be definitely dead,” Taiga let out neutral, but of course he couldn’t hide the small teasing smile.

 

“The reason we helped you was because this was an unfortunate event and nothing you caused yourself. If you had made it crumble yourself I might have left you dying.”

 

“I’ll remember that for the next time.”

 

“Which hopefully never comes.”

 

“Oh, do I hear worry there?”

 

This time Hokuto got up from his chair and approached the bed, but Taiga still kept his carefree attitude, after all he knew that the captain would definitely not throw him off the ship hours after he helped rescuing him.

 

“I swear as soon as you are healed you will not just get your regular payment.”

 

“Why does that sound more of a thread than an reward?” Taiga asked as he tilted his head with a brief smile.

 

“If you want an reward you can choose it freely yourself.”

 

“Oh? But I doubt I will suddenly be allowed to take the treasure with me, right?” It was obviously a joke, but Hokuto still shot him a warning glare.

 

“Partly, maybe. A small piece of the treasure should be a good reward for you, after all you found the way to the island and on top of that the treasure itself.”

 

“What if I want to choose something else?”

 

It was surprising Taiga that Hokuto didn’t seem confused by that statement, it looked almost as if he had waited for him to say something like that and he got up, slowly waling over to the door, obviously wanting to keep going with his preparations.

 

“There are a lot of different types of treasures and they all have different value for us. I don’t just treasure gold, so when I reward you with something that is precious to me as well I want you to keep good care of it.”

 

With that Hokuto left the room and a wide smile spread over Taiga’s face. “Trust me, I will.”

 

***

 

The lifting of the treasure the next day went without problems and the captain decided to make hold at the closest harbor, so they could get their ship repaired from the damage the storm had caused. But the way their took them over a week, which was luckily enough time for Taiga’s leg to get better, but the captain still told him to rest and hadn’t made a move a single time.

 

“You stay here and have an eye on Taiga,” Hokuto said to Juri as he left the ship with the crew. “He can walk again, but he shouldn’t overdo it.”

 

Juri nodded and looked after the captain as he left the ship, but when he reached the peer he stopped and turned around to Juri once more.

 

“You know I don’t just trust you with him I also trust him with you.”

 

Before Juri could make sense out of those words the captain hurried down the peer, the rest of the crew already waiting at the harbor.

 

“Guess you had it quite comfortable for the last days,” Juri greeted Taiga when he walked inside the captain’s cabin.

 

“Comfortable yes, but that’s all.”

 

“So still nothing?”

 

“He was worried about my leg the whole time, so yes the same as before. Guess you brought someone on the ship who was made to cause trouble instead of making things easier.”

 

“You found the treasure for him, so I guess the captain won’t be that stressed anymore from now on, at least until he finds the next map,” Juri let out as he sat down on the side of the bed and Taiga was up on his knees right away, putting his arms around the latter’s shoulders from behind.

 

“Then I’d say there is no need to worry about the captain’s needs for now?”

 

Juri’s answer got swallowed by a low moan when Taiga bit him into the earlobe and let his hands greedily vanish into the boy’s collar.

 

“Your leg, is it-”

 

“Completely fine. As long as you don’t sit on it, there is nothing to worry about.”

 

“Someone of the crew could come back at any time,” Juri said even though it was the worst try he ever made to convince someone to stop with something he actually wanted desperately himself.

 

“Then we should hurry?”

 

“Fine, convinced.”

 

With that Juri turned around and pushed Taiga carefully back in the sheets, while he crawled on top of him. But instead of starting undressing he kept looking down at Taiga for a moment longer.

 

“Something wrong?” Taiga asked curiously, on which Juri leant down and gave Taiga a short and gentle kiss. When he backed off Taiga cracked a smile, but this time there was nothing teasing about it.

 

“I’d say you are the first one who handles me that gentle.”

 

“Maybe that is because I am the first one who almost lost you?”

 

“Actually the first one who tried everything to get me back, instead of just leaving me behind,” Taiga replied before he lifted his hand up to Juri’s cheek and caressed it with a light touch.

 

“I would never leave you behind.”

 

“Is that a promise?”

 

Instead of an answer Juri leant down for another kiss and Taiga crossed his arms around the latter’s neck, melting under the other one’s touch. Who would have guessed that instead of Taiga hunting for another good payment, someone else was hunting for him this time and he wouldn’t mind this predator to keep his prey all for himself.

 

***

 

“Set sail, we are leaving,” Hokuto ordered when the crew was back on board.

 

“Ehm, you did realize that we are still not complete?” Hikaru asked curiously.

 

“Says who? I had given my orders and everyone who didn’t follow them has to deal with the consequences themselves.”

 

When Hokuto went to the quarter deck Hikaru looked over to Myuto who cracked a smile in amusement. “Orders are orders after all. They weren’t allowed to leave the ship.”

 

“Guess our new crewmember learnt pretty fast how to steal a treasure from our captain.”


End file.
